Mercedes W14

[AR3-GP]

This picture highlights how much the sidepod has been reshaped and much more of the volume has been brought down and rearward, next to the engine, like other teams. Still very slim, but their presence is noticeable in an area above the floor where there was nothing last season.

[De Jokke]

Some light shed on engine issues

[SuperCNJ]

Given that the W13 has shown us how compact the packaging can be, with so much more volume in the W14's sidepods+engine cover and the rumored weight loss, it begs the question of what they are using the extra space for.

It just doesn't make sense to me that Merc will suddenly do a U-turn on the philosophy of increasingly slimmer and more compact cars year on year.

Or I guess it could be that the actual W14 we will see in a few weeks will have a more shrink-wrapped body.

[ringo]

The space is about the same or even less. Look from the top view. W14 is much narrower at the front.
The shoulders are more square, and some of the volume went to the side of the engine. But more or less the same volume. I do not think there is any empty pocket that isn't used. The size of the cannon exhuast is an indication of how much tighter the sidepod volume is.
I think Mercedes are just being humble, but I think the car will be at the front. It has the most drastic changes out of the front 3 teams. What remains to be seen is if it is producing the consistent downforce of the redbull and ferrari.

[AR3-GP]

Given that the W13 has shown us how compact the packaging can be, with so much more volume in the W14's sidepods+engine cover and the rumored weight loss, it begs the question of what they are using the extra space for.

Nothing. It's just for aero purposes. To use the sidepod to guide the air. We've seen photos of some of the other cars like the Alpine with the sidepod exposed and there's nothing there.

[GrizzleBoy]

I think we're spending too much time looking at the top of the car and not putting enough consideration into how much the changes above can allow for changes below.

If you look at the side views you can see they've lifted the radiators and a bunch of equipment that used to sit low on the floor to create space to increase the volume of the venturi tunnel entrance and also move the throat of the tunnels rearward.

The throat height may well be taller too.

Having larger tunnel entrances would require larger tunnel exits for pressure differential advantage so that's why the bulges above the rear of the floor have emerged.

This should help with maintaining higher levels of airflow as the car gets lower to the ground as the throat of the tunnel should have a higher volume of air available to it at all ride heights now.

It always bothered me how their tunnel entrance area of their floor seemed so short in length and height compared to the RB18s, for example, who's front floor area was prioritised big time.

Remember, they said the significant upgrades are under the car, not on top of it.

If these upgrades allow the floor to do its job better compared to last year by providing more predictable and useful downforce, they'll be able to run skinnier rear wing and therefore less front wing for balance reasons, and not be sitting ducks on the straights even when they have a car that works well on a specific track.

Just getting the floor to work will allow them to shed a whole lot of drag simply by eliminating AoA front and rear and I think that's why they've made space under the middle of the car by slightly lifting up and pushing outward some components.

Not having to have so much angle on their front wing compared to other cars will also allow cleaner flows across the rest of the entire car, which will allow all their other aero bits like the floor fences, mirror wings and side pod contours to work more efficiently too and improve downforce levels basically everywhere.

That's a huuuuuge IF though....

[PlatinumZealot]

Absolutely not. Sidepods are clearly visible from the front, top and the sides. From the top you can even clearly see their shape from front to rear. Thats not Zeropods.

You can compare it to other cars it's still zeropods , just a different design
Zeropods

what the w13 had will and always be the zeropods idea

They've ditched zeropods but developed the good ideas behind it to this new approach with an elongated but low sidepod and cannon exits.

Zero pods were not "ditched" haha. It's looks extremely similar. Remember the zero pods were never "zero" in the first place. They were simply side pods with the radiators tucked much into the chassis. The frontal area of this new zero pods is actually the same more or less. The little extra trailing body work on it doesn't add much, it actually makes it more efficient maybe? So it's a zero-pods evolution. Far from ditching the concept (which needs the chassis wings to work).

[AR3-GP]

I think we're spending too much time looking at the top of the car and not putting enough consideration into how much the changes above can allow for changes below.

Well, can't blame folks for looking at what is easily visible. Even Toto Wolff was puzzled last year when he said the car looks the same and the engineers said all changes were underneath.

[AR3-GP]

You can compare it to other cars it's still zeropods , just a different design
Zeropods

what the w13 had will and always be the zeropods idea

They've ditched zeropods but developed the good ideas behind it to this new approach with an elongated but low sidepod and cannon exits.

Zero pods were not "ditched" haha. It's looks extremely similar. Remember the zero pods were never "zero" in the first place. They were simply side pods with the radiators tucked much into the chassis. The frontal area of this new zero pods is actually the same more or less. The little extra trailing body work on it doesn't add much, it actually makes it more efficient maybe? So it's a zero-pods evolution. Far from ditching the concept (which needs the chassis wings to work).

I can see that this has become a semantical point of pride...

Mercedes certainly have the smallest sidepods at the ball. However they have clearly been reshaped. A W14 sidepod, not a W13 sidepod. There is an unmistakable difference between the photos and I hope we are not disagreeing on that.

The fascinating point of the W13 was the exposed floor surface area in front of the rear wheels. Where most all teams had a "side pod", the Mercedes had nothing, it was shifted forward and above.

Now they have relaxed this a bit. The floor next to the engine and in front of the rear tire is no longer exposed as much. I'm not going to argue semantics whether the overall volume increased or decreased. The pictures speak for themselves. No one would ever confuse the W14 for a W13.

[rifrafs2kees]

This picture highlights how much the sidepod has been reshaped and much more of the volume has been brought down and rearward, next to the engine, like other teams. Still very slim, but their presence is noticeable in an area above the floor where there was nothing last season.

https://i.postimg.cc/zfzGGWwJ/image.png

I'm in agreement that the w13 has more floor exposure but lens foci length difference between the 2 pics exaggerates the change a bit.

[PlatinumZealot]

Toto says yes, the sidepods are the first iteration and it is already planned to have revised them after a few races.
For me, that means that it was noticed too late that the revised concept simply doesn't have the potential that Mercedes had hoped for for a long time.
Even if Toto downplays the influence of the sidepods, the interview sounds very much like a farewell to their current sidepod concept.

https://www.motorsport-total.com/formel ... n-23021511

You didn't read the whole sentence though! Toto said the sidepod will "change a little bit" which confirms they are sticking to the zero pod concept.

[PlatinumZealot]

what the w13 had will and always be the zeropods idea

They've ditched zeropods but developed the good ideas behind it to this new approach with an elongated but low sidepod and cannon exits.

Zero pods were not "ditched" haha. It's looks extremely similar. Remember the zero pods were never "zero" in the first place. They were simply side pods with the radiators tucked much into the chassis. The frontal area of this new zero pods is actually the same more or less. The little extra trailing body work on it doesn't add much, it actually makes it more efficient maybe? So it's a zero-pods evolution. Far from ditching the concept (which needs the chassis wings to work).

I can see that this has become a semantical point of pride...

Mercedes certainly have the smallest sidepods at the ball. However they have clearly been reshaped. A W14 sidepod, not a W13 sidepod. There is an unmistakable difference between the photos and I hope we are not disagreeing on that.

The fascinating point of the W13 was the exposed floor surface area in front of the rear wheels. Where most all teams had a "side pod", the Mercedes had nothing, it was shifted forward and above.

Now they have relaxed this a bit. The floor next to the engine and in front of the rear tire is no longer exposed as much. I'm not going to argue semantics whether the overall volume increased or decreased. The pictures speak for themselves. No one would ever confuse the W14 for a W13.

Not semantics..that would be missing the point in a big way. The actual concept is still zero pod. The Mercedes engineers say the concept is the same. B-sport says it's the same. Toto says it's the same. It's a zero pod evolution. Instantly recognizable. The only slight difference in size is that tiny little bulge ahead of the rear wheels... which is nary 2 inches? wider than the old area?

[DiogoBrand]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FpBnJ58WAAE ... =4096x4096

I know Pirelli makes bad rain tyres and even their slicks have never been anything to write home about, but this solution seems a bit extreme from Mercedes.

[AR3-GP]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FpBnJ58WAAE ... =4096x4096

I know Pirelli makes bad rain tyres and even their slicks have never been anything to write home about, but this solution seems a bit extreme from Mercedes.

These are rolling around in the paddock tires.

[ringo]

The car much narrower head one. Not sure what Ar3-GP is seeing. Look from the top view by the halo, then look from the front between the wheels.
As for the underneath.. It will need someone to beach the car or for it to stop out on track for us to see the underfloor.
The suspension, maybe when the gearbox is setup or fluids are being topped up.

I notice from the shot of Russel on the track, the front seems high and the rear low. Seems much softer ride, and more anti-dive.